In order to successfully navigate through the challenges of a golf course, a golfer may utilize different golf clubs designed to achieve different objectives encountered throughout the golf course. For example, one of the major objectives of a golfer during a round of golf is to drive a golf ball as far as they can. A driver type golf club is generally used to accomplish this objective by maximizing the distance of a golf shot from a tee box utilizing a golf tee that improves the quality of contact with the golf ball. On the opposite end of the spectrum, one of the other objectives of golf is to accurately get the golf ball into a cup to complete a hole. A putter type golf club is generally used to accomplish this second objective by gently guiding the golf ball into the cup, thus requiring a maximum emphasis on accuracy. Between the two above mentioned objectives are numerous other objectives requiring a golfer to use a multitude of different clubs. Generally speaking, one of the other major objectives within the game of golf is to get a golf ball as close to the cup as possible, thus requiring a balance between distance and accuracy for the specific distance range required. Iron type golf clubs have been the predominant golf club of choice for a golfer that wishes accomplish this third objective mentioned above, as iron type golf clubs strive for a balance of accuracy and distance of a golf shot depending on the exact distance needs of the golfer.
However, even with the existence of driver type golf club heads, iron type golf club heads, and putter type golf club heads, golf courses present numerous other challenges that may or may not be capable of being addressed by the above mentioned clubs. For example, in addition to the difficulties in getting the golf ball from the tee box to the cup, golf courses may offer numerous additional challenges such as sand traps, tall roughs, trees, lakes, rivers, oceans, waterfalls, long par 5's, or even stone walls in the middle of a golf course that may require specialized golf clubs to help a golfer overcome these additional challenges. In order to address these additional challenges of the golf course, specialized golf clubs have been created to help a golfer tackle these additional challenges of the golf course. The sand wedge, with its heavy weight, sharper edges, and higher lofts, is one example of such a club that makes it a easier for a golfer to escape the sand traps of a golf course. Fairway woods, on the other hand, have been developed to help the golfer address the difficulty encountered when he or she needs to hit a golf ball over a significantly long distance, especially when the golfer finds the golf ball at a location that does not allow the use of a golf tee.
Fairway woods are a particular type of golf club that, similar to drivers, places an emphasis on maximizing the distance of a golf shot. Fairway woods, however, are different than drivers in that they may be used to hit a golf ball resting on the ground with or without a golf tee. Fairway woods, because of their need to be able to maximize performance off the ground without a golf tee, may generally have a smaller size, allowing the club to effectively get under and engage a golf ball resting on the ground.
Because of the success and wide acceptance of fairway wood type golf clubs in helping the golfer overcome one of the most common challenges of a golf course as mentioned above, numerous attempts have been made improve the performance of the fairway wood type golf club by lowering the center of gravity of the club to provide a better ball flight and allow the golf club to better get under and engage a golf ball. U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,310 ('310 Patent) to Ota provides one example of this by disclosing a golf club head defining a face, a lower sole portion, an upper portion, and a side wall. The sole portion of the '310 patent is generally thicker than the upper portion, and preferably approximately one and one-third to six times as thick, resulting in a lower center of gravity that allows a golfer to more easily swing the face of the club head under a golf ball.
Another way to improve the performance of a fairway wood is to create a fairway wood type golf club head with a higher moment of inertia to provide even more forgiveness. More specifically, the prior art technology could utilize strategic weight placement at extreme ends of the fairway wood type golf club head to prevent twisting of the golf club head. This ability of a golf club head to resist twisting upon impact may generally increase the moment of inertia of a golf club head, yielding a fairway wood type golf club head that is more accurate regardless of the impact location.
Due to the versatility and enhanced performance capabilities of fairway wood type golf clubs, fairway woods have gained prominent acceptance with golfers. In fact, golfers have found fairway woods so appealing, the golfing industry have expanded their fairway wood offerings to include multiple fairway woods with different lofts to help golfers achieve different types of golf shots all within the realm of maintaining the basic premise of hitting the golf ball a significant distance. Because of the multiple offerings as well as their increased performance benefits, it is not uncommon for a golfer to carry multiple fairway woods to help him or her navigate the difficulties of a golf course. However, because of the inherent design limitations of fairway woods stemming from their smaller size, fairway woods that vary from one another in terms of loft may generally be accompanied by significant changes in terms of its size, volume, and shape that could alter the performance of the fairway wood.
Despite tremendous technological advancements within fairway wood technology to help the golfer navigate the added length of a golf course, the advancements within the fairway wood technology have been in a vacuum, focusing on individual clubs instead of controlling the variables that deprive the entire set of fairway type golf clubs from achieving the maximum distance that the club is capable of. More specifically, because of the difference in size, volume, and shape, the amount of spin generated by the higher lofted fairway wood type golf clubs may generally be significantly higher, robbing the higher lofted fairway wood type golf clubs of distance.
Hence, it can be seen from above there is a need in the field for a plurality of fairway woods that maximizes the distance of each and every single club within the set. More specifically, there is a need in the field for a set of fairway woods that minimizes the spin variation between the different fairway wood type golf club heads despite the fact that each of the individual fairway wood type golf club heads may have different lofts.